Tara Donovan: Making beauty of simple things

When a plastic cup comes to mind I think of something thats disposable. Multiples tossed away at big gatherings without a second thought. To Tara Donovan, its the things that we toss away in sums that become beauty when arranged in a way that almost disguises what they actually are. Quantity, in fact, becomes only a vague part of her work. It's what she does with the quantity of everyday items. I remember visiting the Beamis Gallery once and seeing a wall covered with paper hanging loosely. On the opposite wall the windows were opened allowing a gust of wind into the room that gave life to the installation of paper, both in movement and sound. Donovan's work reminds me of this. Her work "Bluffs" from a distance appears similar to coral an ocean floor as it is cascaded in blue and white light. As one gets closer it's merely buttons stacked upon each other that create an almost biological shape.

There is a minimalist quality to her work that takes an object that is assumed to be basic only to be turned into something with infinite possibilities. One of her work is done with thousands of pins stuck in a large white canvas. The mood is both geographical and technical. When the pins are removed the holes create a whole different feel, somewhat organic. Her work has captured the attention of artist Chuck Close who does similar work by creating faces out of colorful hollow circles drawn in graphs. She met him while waitressing at the Soho in New York where she eventually was discovered and offered a gallery exhibit. Becoming a new face in the art industry she was awarded the MacArthur Foundation Genius Award of $500,000.

What I find to be compelling about her work is that in this era of time where recycling is a strong motive, I think of how many of the everyday things are tossed away assuming that they have little purpose. Here's someone that has a vision for the small things, makes them into things they are intricate and beautiful. Spending hours at a time experimenting with the material until she figures out something artistic about it. In a quote she stated "So much about art-making process is about paying attention, it's about looking and noticing things." By this I think of quote thats cliche' "One person's trash is another person's treasure"